by Tempo Titans Prague
Catcher Petr Šusta continued to swing a hot bat to end the season and Martin Lukačka allowed just one run over six innings as the Tempo Titans Praha completed a sweep of Olympia Blansko to clinch a promotion to the Czech Baseball Association’s Extraliga with a 6-1 win on the road on Sunday.
Tempo had previously won Game 2, 11-1, on Saturday and Game 1, 11-0, on October 6.
Šusta went 3-for-3 with a walk and drove in three runs to extend his hitting streak to 12 games and center fielder Jan Škvor, third baseman Andrew Rodgers and designated hitter Marek Rejman each chipped in with two hits for Tempo, which plated all six runs (three earned) on eight hits against Olympia Blansko left-hander Stepan Havlicek, a minor leaguer in the Tampa Bay Rays’ system.
“Our guys battled all year to get to this point, and they accomplished every goal we set at the beginning of the season,” said Tempo head coach Joey Kamide. “I told them we would strive from day one to be the hardest-working team in the country, and that if they bought in, good things would happen. I’m very proud of this group.”
Lukačka, the right-hander from Slovakia, limited Olympia Blansko to one run on three hits to earn the victory, with lefty Lubomír Čuhel throwing two scoreless innings in relief and Rodgers, the club’s import player from Adelaide, Australia, throwing a scoreless ninth to close out the victory.
With the series victory, the Titans, which won the Českomoravská liga (second division) championship over Sokol Hluboká last month, will return to the Extraliga for the 2013 season. The club previously played in the first division from 1993-2009, compiling a 227-250 record and advancing to the finals in 1994 and 2003.